Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mating scars among sharks: evidence of coercive mating?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
acta ethologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

On rare occasions, during mating season among sharks, ‘mating scars’ appear on female sharks’ bodies caused by the males holding onto them. The low frequency of sharks bearing such scars indicates that those markers are not part of regular mating efforts. These scars are mostly deeper cuts and punctures, indicating a more forceful motivation such as coercive mating from the male’s side. We discuss scenarios based on mating scars from three Carcharhinid species, describe and explain the arrangement of these bite scars, and consider plausible mating strategies used by males, including coercive mating.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amin R, Ritter E, Kulldorf M, Barbas A, Schwarzmeier M (2016) Sharksuckers, Echeneis naucrates, are non-randomly attached to the bodies of lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris: a spatial study. Environ Sci 4:79–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun K, Harper RG (1993) Effects of predator size and female receptivity on courtship behavior of captive-bred male guppies. Trans Illinois State Acad Sci 86:127–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Calich HJ, Campana SE (2015) Mating scars reveal mate size in immature female blue shark Prionace glauca. J Fish Biol 86:1845–1851

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carrier JC, Pratt HL, Martin LK (1994) Group reproductive behaviors in free-living nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum. Copeia 1984:646–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro JI (2000) The biology of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, off the Florida east coast and the Bahama Islands. Environ Biol Fish 58:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crooks N, Babey L, Haddon WJ, Love AC, Waring CP (2013) Sexual dimorphisms in the dermal denticles of the lesser-spotted catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula (Linnaeus, 1758). PLoS One 8:e76887. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076887

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Clark E (1963) Maintenance of sharks in captivity, with a report on their instrumental conditioning. In: Gilbert PW (ed) Sharks and survival. Heath, Boston, DC, pp 115–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Parker GA (1995) Sexual coercion in animal societies. Anim Behav 49:1345–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domi N, Poncin P, Voss J (1999) A new observed pre-copulatory behaviour of the lesser-spotted dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula, in captivity. Proc 3rd Eur Elasmobranch Assoc Meet 67–71

  • Dosen LD, Montgomerie R (2004a) Mate preferences by male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in relation to the risk of sperm competition. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55:266–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dosen LD, Montgomerie R (2004b) Female size influences mate preferences of male guppies. Ethol 110:245–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driggers WB, Oakley DA, Ulrich G, Carlso JK, Cullum BJ, Dean JM (2004) Reproductive biology of Carcharhinus acronotus in the coastal waters of South Carolina. J Fish Biol 64:1540–1551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans JP, Pilastro A, Ramnarine IW (2003) Sperm transfer through coercive matings and its evolutionary implications in natural guppy (Poecilia reticulata) populations. Biol J Linn Soc 78:605–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans JP, Kelley JL, Ramnarine IW, Pilastro A (2002) Female behaviour mediates male courtship under predation risk in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 52:496–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrell ED, Mariani S, Clarke MW (2010) Reproductive biology of the starry smooth-hound shark Mustelus asterias: geographic variation and implications for sustainable exploitation. J Fish Biol 77:1505–1525

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feldheim KA, Gruber SH, Ashley MV (2002) The breeding biology of lemon sharks at a tropical nursery lagoon. Proc R Soc Biol Sci Lond B 269:1655–1661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friberg U (2006) Male perception of female mating status: its effect on copulation duration, sperm defence and female fitness. Anim Behav 72:1259–1268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godin J-G, Auld HL (2013) Covariation and repeatability of male mating effort and mating preferences in a promiscuous fish. Ecol Evol 3:2020–2029

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Godin J-G, Herdman EE, Dugatkin LA (2005) Social influences on female mate choice in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata: generalized and repeatable trait copying behaviour. Anim Behav 69:999–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon I (1993) Pre-copulatory behavior of captive sandtiger sharks, Carcharias taurus. Environ Biol Fish 38:159–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guevara-Fiore P (2012) Early social experience significantly affects sexual behaviour in male guppies. Anim Behav 84:191–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guevara-Fiore P, Skinner A, Watt PJ (2009) Do male guppies distinguish virgin females from recently mated ones. Anim Behav 77:425–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guevara-Fiore P, Stapley J, Watt PJ (2010) Mating effort and female receptivity: how do male guppies decide when to invest in sex? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64:1665–1672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0980-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazin FHV, Kihara K, Otsuka K, Boeckman CE, Leal C (1994) Reproduction of the blue shark Prionace glauca in the south-western equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Fish Sci 60:487–491

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Houziaux JS, Voss PP (1997) First observation covered by film of behaviour related to mating in the smallspotted catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula (Linné, 1758). Rev Fr Aquariol 24:15–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen CF, Natanson LJ, Pratt HL, Kohler N (2002) The reproductive biology of the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Fish Bull 100:727–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson RH, Nelson DR (1978) Copulation and possible olfaction-mediated pair formation in two species of carcharhinid sharks. Copeia 1978:539–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones KM, Monaghan P, Nager RG (2001) Male mate choice and female fecundity in zebra finches. Anim Behav 62:1021–1026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klimley AP (1980) Observations of courtship and copulation in the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum. Copeia 4:878–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liley NR (1966) Ethological isolating mechanisms in four sympatric species of poeciliid fishes. Behav (suppl) 13:1–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Liley NR (1968) Endocrine control of reproductive behaviour in female guppy Poecilia reticulata Peters. Anim Behav 16:318–331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liley NR, Wishlow W (1974) Interaction of endocrine and experiential factors in regulation of sexual behavior in female guppy Poecilia reticulata. Behav 48:185–214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luer CA, Gilbert PW (1985) Mating behavior, egg deposition, incubation period, and hatching in the clearnose skate, Raja eglanteria. Environ Biol Fish 13:161–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley DJ, Papastamatiou YP, Young HS (2010) An observation of mating in free-ranging blacktip reef sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus. Pac Sci 64:349–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miranda A, Almeida OG, Hubbard PC, Barata EN, Canario AVM (2005) Olfactory discrimination of female reproductive status by male tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). J Exp Biol 208:2037–2043

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano H, Stevens JD (2008) The biology and ecology of the blue shark Prionace glauca. In: Chamhi MD, Pikitch EK, Babcock EA (eds) Sharks of the open oceans. Blackwell, Oxford pp 140–151

  • Neff BD, Pitcher TE, Ramnarine IW (2008) Inter-population variation in multiple paternity and reproductive skew in the guppy. Molec Ecol 17:2975–2984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer CT (1989) Rape in nonhuman animal species: definitions, evidence, and implications. J Sex Res 26:355–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parzefall J (1969) Zur vergleichenden Ethologie verschiedener Mollienesia-Arten einschliesslich einer Höhlenform von Mollienesia sphenops. Behav 33:1–37

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Kippin TE, Centeno S (2001) Conditioning and sexual behavior: a review. Horm Behav 40:291–321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Plath M, Parzefall J, Schlupp I (2003) The role of sexual harassment in cave and surface dwelling populations of the Atlantic molly, Poecilia mexicana (Poeciliidae, Teleostei). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54:303–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt HL, Carrier JC (2001) A review of elasmobranch reproductive behavior with a case study on the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum. The behavior and sensory biology of elasmobranch fishes: an anthology in memory of Donald Richard Nelson. Developments Environ Biol Fish 20:157–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter E (2001) Food-related dominance between two carcharhinid shark species, the Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezi, and the blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus. Mar Freshw Behav Physiol 34:125–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter E, Compagno LVC (2013) Clasper flaring: maintenance behavior, or a normally hidden feature of male whitetip reef sharks, Triaenodon obesus? Open Fish Sci J 6:10–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter EK, Vargas F (2015) On mating behavior of the blotched fantail ray, Taeniura meyeni. Environ Sci http://www.m-hikari.com/es/es2015/es1-2015/4117.html, 3, 1, 9

  • Ryan MJ, Causey BA (1989) “Alternative" mating behavior in the swordtails Xiphophorus nigrensis and Xiphophorus pygmaeus (Pisces: Poeciliidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 24:341–348

  • Schlupp I, McKnab R, Ryan MJ (2001) Sexual harassment as a cost for molly females: bigger males cost less. Behav 138:277–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skomal GB, Natanson LJ (2003) Age and growth of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the North Atlantic Ocean. Fish Bull 101:627–639

    Google Scholar 

  • Springer V (1960) Natural history of the sandbar shark, Eulamia milberti. Fishery Bull Fish Wildl Serv US 61:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Springer V (1967) Social organizations of shark populations. In: Gilbert PW, Mathewson RF, Dall DP (eds) Sharks, skates and rays. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD, pp 149–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens JD (1976) First results of shark tagging in the north-East Atlantic, 1972-1975. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 56:929–937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens JD (1984) Biological observations on sharks caught by sport fisherman of New South Wales. Mar Freshw Res 35:573–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tricas TC, LeFeuvre EML (1985) Mating in the reef white-tip shark Triaenodon obesus. Mar Biol 84:233–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney NM, Pratt HL, Carrier JC (2004) Group courtship, mating behaviour and siphon sac function in the whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus. Anim Behav 68(6):1435–1442

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of West Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Bldg. 4, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA

    Erich K. Ritter & Raid W. Amin

  2. Shark Research Institute, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA

    Erich K. Ritter

Authors
  1. Erich K. Ritter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Raid W. Amin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erich K. Ritter.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ritter, E.K., Amin, R.W. Mating scars among sharks: evidence of coercive mating?. acta ethol 22, 9–16 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-018-0301-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-018-0301-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation